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Montreal Canadiens: Surprising Coaching Shakeup With Trois-Rivieres Lions

By Ken MacMillan

Val-d'Or, QC - NOVEMBER 15: Acadie-Bathurst head coach Ron Choules reacts to a call during the game against the Val D'Or Foreurs at the Air Creebec Centre on November 15, 2008 in Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. The Foreurs defeated the Titans 3-1. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)
Val-d'Or, QC - NOVEMBER 15: Acadie-Bathurst head coach Ron Choules reacts to a call during the game against the Val D'Or Foreurs at the Air Creebec Centre on November 15, 2008 in Val-d'Or, Quebec, Canada. The Foreurs defeated the Titans 3-1. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens coaching staff will remain the same heading into next season, but the same can not be said for their minor league affiliate in the ECHL.

The Trois-Rivieres Lions have been around since the 2021-22 season and had former Montreal Canadiens defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron as the team’s general manager since day one. Eric Belanger was also their first head coach but he resigned partway through last season. When he left, Bergeron took on the role as head coach as well as general manager.

It was announced earlier this offseason that Bergeron was leaving the organization, resulting in the team needing to find a new head coach as well as a new general manager for the 2023-24 season.

In late June, the Lions revealed Pascal Rheaume, who had been serving as the team’s assistant coach since the 2021-22 season, would take over as the new head coach and general manager.

In a surprising announcement his morning, the Lions have said Rheaume is leaving the organization to pursue an opportunity in the American Hockey League and will no longer be working with Trois-Rivieres in the ECHL.

In Rheaume’s place, the team has hired Ron Choules to take over as the Lions general manager and head coach. Choules was the head coach of the U-18 Lac St Louis Lions last season but has extensive experience as an assistant and head coach in the QMJHL with the Victoriaville Tigres, Acadie-Bathurst Titan, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, Gatineau Olympiques, and Shawinigan Cataractes.

It is not unusual for an experienced coach or general manager to move up from the ECHL to the AHL in an offseason, but it is a bit odd for it to happen this late in the summer, especially when it involves a coach who was promoted by his current organization just two months ago.

The Lions 2023-24 season begins on October 20th.

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